Batman: Justice Buster Vol. 1

I’m sure Batman must have gone manga before this comic, which I think launched in 2021, but in any event that’s the hook here. Manga Batman.

What is manga Batman like? Basically he’s a cross between Iron Man, in a very robotic-looking armoured suit, and Spider-Man with the way he goes swinging through the canyons of Gotham on cables fired from his wrists. In terms of art style I wouldn’t call it excessively manga-ish, though you do get some faces characterized by the trademark pointy chins and missing noses. And of course you read the whole thing back-to-front.

Author Eiichi Shimizu plays some interesting riffs on the Batman mythos. Which is saying something, given how many times that mythos has been reinvented and reimagined over the last hundred years. Robin (or ROBIN) is now Batman’s AI assistant, and there are definitely some kinks in that system that need working out. Batman has the idea that his super-computer is going to help him stop criminals before they actually commit any crimes. What could go wrong with that? Meanwhile, Dick Grayson is a kid working with a detective who’s investigating the murder of his *(Grayson’s) family. There’s not much explained about that angle, but I’m sure it will be developed as the series goes on. And finally there’s a new Joker, now a masked nut who wants to be Batman’s sidekick. Yeah, he’s a good guy. Or at least that’s what he’s pretending to be.

Other familiar names are more recognizable. Alfred and Commissioner Gordon are the same as they’ve always been. Clark Kent shows up trying to get Bruce Wayne to join the Justice League, but gets turned down. Firefly, Killer Croc, Penguin, and Deathstroke are all here. There’s actually a fair bit of action, but one thing about the art I had trouble with were the fight scenes. They’re really hard to follow. I liked their “look,” which is less manga than the rest of the comic, but it’s not easy to make out what is happening. Which is a shame because the fight with Killer Croc seemed like it was quite something.

In other words, a mixed bag. More interesting for the storylines that are introduced than the look of the thing, but in any event worth sticking with a little longer. Even if the Justice Buster (the name given what appears to be a blocky-looking Batboat here, but which turns out to be one of those monster exo-suits) seems a silly sort of thing.

Graphicalex